John,
RE: Philippians 2:6
It is puzzling to me how Paul could be “blameless according to Law.” Do you think he was referring to traditions of the Pharisees?
Wendell
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Hi Wendell,
Since Paul was a Pharisee as he was growing up, yes, he certainly meant, at least, that he was blameless according the way Pharisees interpreted the law. But I get the sense that Paul meant he had been blameless in a more general sense, beyond mere Pharisaism. I think Paul meant he studiously kept the law as it was written by Moses.
Beyond that, I think Paul was also saying that if Jesus had really been a false prophet, as he and others at that time thought, then even his cruel abuse of Jesus’ followers was right, according to the law.
Do you see something Paul did as a young man that would have made him not “blameless according to the law”, other than that?
jdc